Return to neptunism: review article

Abstract

The article tries to revive the traditions of neptunizm. The neptunist Cuvier believed that «the fossil is the key to the past. The past is characterized by a radical break with the present, perhaps it even proceeded according to another physical laws. This is evidenced by the fossils. With the modern action of physical forces, all the deceased remnants decompose. Fossils could have formed during catastrophically rapid burial with reliable isolation from oxygen. The present is the key to the past according to the lawyer Lyell. The past is like the present. It contains an incredible amount of time and years. All processes were going with the same energy as they do now and were not overshadowed by any gigantic disaster. Lyell's statements entered science under the name of the principle of actualism. He gave a paradigmal form not only to the earth sciences, but to all of science, and formed the basis of the evolutionary doctrine. The fundamental dogma of randomness of both natural and all historical processes is the basis of modern scientific ideology. This randomness has no purpose and cannot have. Nevertheless, paradoxically, it predetermines the evolutionary progress of all things. With the appearance of the anthropic principle the teleologism regains its completeness and direction. The anthropic principle is teleological. Since the entire Universe and the biosphere are attuned to human nature, the more such attunement can be expected from earthly nature. There are opportunities for harmonizing human with natural landscapes for health-improving purposes. Nothing was known about the subtlest adjustment of the Universe for humans, or about the incredible complexity of the biosphere even 50-70 years ago. The universe could be explained by evolution and actualism. The discovered incredible complexity of the world brings religion and science closer together. A catastrophic and probably anti-random picture of the planet's history is emerging more and more clear. In this light, the power of science is seen again not in confrontation with religion, but in harmonization with it.